Habitat Destruction Name: � Cross-Curricular Focus: Life Scienc E Answer the Following Questions Based on the Reading Passage

Cross-Curricular Reading Comprehension Worksheets: C-12 of 36

Habitat Destruction Name: Cross-Curricular Focus: Life Scienc e Answer the following questions based on the reading passage. Don't forget to go back to the passage whenever necessary to Humans are the leading cause of plants and animals find or confirm your answers. becoming endangered or extinct. An endangered species has so few members that the species may die out. Unless something is done to protect an endangered species, they will be gone forever. We will not have any more of that kind 1) Why are so many plants and animals endangered? of plant or animal on Earth. The most dangerous thing humans do to endangered animals is destroy their habitats. This is usually because we do not pay very close attention. When there is an area of 2) What do we risk losing in addition to plants and animals land we want to use, we don't notice what is already if we continue to destroy rainforests? living there. Thousands of acres of tropical forest, or rainforest, have been destroyed by humans. People wanted the land and lumber for building projects. Countless plants and 3) What happens when towns want to expand onto animals have been lost in this one habitat alone. Many more land? of the organisms that live in the tropical rainforest do not live anywhere else. We are just beginning to discover medicines and other resources there. We risk losing that knowledge if more species die out. Most of us don't live near a tropical rainforest. However, 4) What kinds of habitat are especially at risk? that does not mean we are far away from habitat destruction. When a town expands, more houses and businesses are built. The town pushes the local wildlife farther from its natural habitat. Wetlands and grasslands are unique 5) How can we help prevent more habitat destruction? habitats that are especially at risk. Thankfully, people are more aware of the problem. This is the first step toward !protecting.,._ habitats.

Read the passage. Then answer each question.

THE LIFE CYCLE

When you plant a seed, does it stay a seed forever? No! Plants and animals grow and change throughout their lives.

Many plants begin as seeds. As the seed gets what it needs (water, sunlight, and nutrients from the soil), it begins to grow. The seed turns into a little sprout. It keeps growing until it is a full-grown plant. Then the plant makes new seeds, so that new plants can grow even after the plant grows old and dies. Those seeds will then go through their growth process. Because seeds go through this process over and over again, it is called a life cycle.

Animals also have life cycles. A frog begins as an egg. When the egg hatches, it turns into a tadpole. The tadpoles grow legs and arms, and eventually grow into adult frogs. The adult frogs lay eggs, so that new frogs can live even after the frog grows old and dies.

A dog's life cycle is a little different than a frog's, because a dog does not start out as an egg. It is born from its mother's belly. The puppy keeps growing and is eventually an adult dog. Then the adult dog might have puppies to continue the life cycle!

Insects like caterpillars go through life cycles, too. Caterpillars begin as eggs. When they hatch, they are larva. The caterpillar becomes a pupa, and inside of the pupa it turns into an adult. The adult is not a caterpillar; it is a butterfly! Then the butterfly lays eggs, so that new caterpillars and butterflies can live even after the butterfly grows old and dies.

Plants and animals don't stay the same throughout their lives, they grow and change through their life cycle.

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